Hounds Come Up Short In Rematch With Rattlers

The Charlotte Hounds on Saturday night came up short in their rematch with the Rochester Rattlers, falling 13-10 in front of 3,101 fans at American Legion Memorial Stadium in Charlotte, NC. The Hounds’ effort was led by Ryan Young, who notched a personal and franchise-record seven goals, while also tallying one assist. The eight-point performance earned Young Player of the Game honors.

It was a back-and-forth affair from the start, as the first half alone saw five ties. The Rattlers took the early 1-0 lead, as Hounds goalie Adam Ghitelman stepped out of the cage to lay a check, causing the ball to bounce free to Jordan MacIntosh for an easy goal. But Young pulled momentum back in favor of the Hounds, scoring back-to-back goals, including one on the man-up, for a 2-1 lead with 4:39 remaining in the first. Less than two minutes later, Ned Crotty scored to tie the game at 2-2. The Rattlers won the ensuing faceoff, but Ryan Flanagan intercepted a pass which would set up an eventual goal for Matt Danowski and a 3-2 lead for the Hounds. That lead didn’t last long, however, as Mike Leveille scored less than a minute later to close the quarter in a 3-3 tie.

In a change of pace to start the second, the Hounds sent long pole Brett Schmidt out to take the opening faceoff. Schmidt won the draw and dished the ball to Young, who tallied his third of the night to put the Hounds up 4-3 just 14 seconds in. But the lead again was short lived, as the Rattlers’ Matt Striebel and Hounds’ Young traded two goals each through the remainder of the quarter to end the first half in a 5-5 tie.

The Rattlers began to pull away in the third though, opening with back-to-back goals from Crotty and MacIntosh to take the first two-goal lead of the game, 7-5. Brian Carroll brought the Hounds back within one, but Casey Cittadino was called for holding and MacIntosh took advantage of the Rattlers’ man-up opportunity, scoring his third of the night for an 8-6 lead. MacIntosh followed that up with an even-strength goal to extend the Rattlers’ advantage to 9-6.

Young closed the third and opened the fourth with unassisted goals, his fifth and sixth of the night, to pull the Hounds back within one, 9-8. But the Rattlers tallied four of the next five goals, including the third of the night by Striebel, to build a 13-9 advantage with just 48 seconds to play. Tim Fallon won the ensuing faceoff and notched a goal for the Hounds to account for the 13-10 final. Fallon was 13-27 on the night from the X.

The Hounds, now 1-2, will face a quick turnaround as they travel to play the Nationals in Hamilton on Friday morning. The Nationals, 2-0 on the season, are coming off a 12-11 defeat of the Lizards on Saturday night.